1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to storage battery technology, and more particularly to batteries having rechargeable cells including a cathode structure, an anode structure and an electrolyte.
2. Description of the Background Art
The electrochemical storage battery is a well-known device having many applications. The storage, or secondary battery, is characterized in being capable of accepting direct-current electrical energy in a charging phase, retaining the energy in the form of chemical energy in the charge retention phase and releasing its energy on being connected to an external load in the discharge phase. The storage battery is capable of repeatedly performing these three phases over a reasonable life cycle.
The structure of the storage battery is typically a construction including one or more identical units called cells. Each cell contains plates referred to as positive (anode) and negative (cathode) electrodes contained in an electrolyte. When a charged storage battery cell is discharged through a load, the plates and the electrolyte undergo a chemical change wherein the negative cathode loses electrons and the positive anode gains electrons thereby providing a current flow. During charging, the original conditions of the battery are restored by passing through it a current opposite to that produced during the discharge.
Advances in battery technology in the prior art have mainly resided in the types of materials employed in the structure. Early storage batteries employed lead-acid cells, and then other combinations such as nickel with iron, cadmium, zinc or hydrogen and silver-iron, zinc-bromine, zinc-chlorine were developed with increasing energy quantities per weight. Lithium battery systems are now available and structures have been proposed using a lithium anode, a polymer electrode and a composite cathode such as CuO, CuS or FeS. Cells of this type are described in the Aug. 19, 1991, Electronic Engineering Times in the publication "Batteries Slim Down For Portability" by Colin Mackay and Robert Kline, Jr. at page 52. As battery developers seek to improve energy storage capacity and energy stored per kilogram, they continue to focus on the use of materials. The development of the zinc-air battery is indicative of this research approach.
Characteristics of storage batteries in the prior art are that the component elements of the structure are in a fixed and rigid relationship with each other, and that the areas of the electrodes with respect to each other are fixed. That is, the ratio of the areas of the electrodes are determined at the time of manufacture and can not be changed. Furthermore, the position or location of the electrodes with respect to each other and to the electrolyte are fixed and invariable in the prior art storage batteries.